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UCSB Lectures Promote New Financial Mathematics and Statistics Major

By Bill Schlotter

Tuesday, May 6, 2003 - 17:00

Santa Barbara, CA

A new major designed to prepare students for careers in modern finance has been created at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Financial Mathematics and Statistics major will be administered jointly by the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability.

A series of four lectures featuring prominent financial experts has been organized to draw attention to the new major and will begin Thursday, May 8 with "Business Careers for Math and Statistics" by Robert C. Lowes, former CEO of Burger King Corporation and former chief financial officer of Tricon, Pillsbury, and Oscar Mayer Foods. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Lowes will discuss current business trends and the opportunities they provide those with a background in financial mathematics and statistics. He will also offer his personal perspectives on the keys to success. His lecture will begin at 8 p.m. in UCSB's Corwin Pavilion.

Other lectures in the series are:

·Friday, May 16: "Derivative Pricing and Risk Management in the Energy Markets: the Role of Mathematics;" Rene Carmona, the Paul Wythes Professor of Engineering and Finance, Bendheim Center for Finance and ORFE, Princeton University, 4 p.m., UCSB Visitors Center.

·Thursday, May 22: "Financial Mathematics as a New Interdisciplinary Area in Industry, Education and Research;" George Papanicolau, Grimmett Professor in Mathematics, Stanford University, 8 p.m., UCSB Faculty Club.

The new major was designed to prepare students for careers in corporate finance, commercial and investment banking, financial planning, insurance, and real estate. Students will learn the fundamentals of pricing financial assets, including equities, bonds, currencies and derivative securities. They will also learn about portfolio management, evaluation of financial risk, corporate finance and other topics.